Owner of cabin burned in the Fern Lake fire to return to Estes Park

Dr. Norman Morin and wife may look to rebuild

By Juley Harvey Trail-Gazette

Posted:
12/06/2012 02:50:21 PM MST

Corningware and a chimney are all that remain of a cabin lost early Saturday morning to the resurgent Fern Lake Fire. This was the only structure lost, when the fire roared out of the canyon and quickly spread east through Moraine Park.
(
Walt Hester
)

Some pots, a few cups and a knife missing its handle sit on Tuesday by the site of a cabin lost in the Fern Lake Fire. The cabin was the only structure lost in a small cluster of private in-holdings in Moraine Park. The cabin was owned by Dr. Norman and Irene Morin, who have been visiting it for half-a-century.
(
Walt Hester
)

"C'est la vie," Dr. Norman Morin, owner of the only structure that burned in the Fern Lake Fire, said from his main home in Lake Charles, La., on Wednesday. You could feel the shrug, and the almost-acceptance, of his French-Canadian ancestry coming through the phone, in the "That's life," what are ya gonna do, you might as well smile, attitude.

His wife, Irene, was a little more emotional. She compared the feelings surrounding losing one's second home of half a century to being almost similar to losing a child. Memories, a life, family photos, even a Corningware dish in the oven of the Morin's in-holding cabin in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) were scorched in the Fern Lake Fire that moved menacingly through the Moraine Park area beginning last Saturday morning.

The poignance of the situation is hammered home in the photos shown, with the lone chimney standing amidst the rubble, and the stove on the foundation of what once was a happy home.

Morin, 89, says that the potential of rebuilding is now on the horizon, pending discussions with his five children to see what their wishes are. His "sweet wife of 64 years says 'we ought to go back here,'" he said. The key to a long, happy marriage, he said, is "we don't argeue." The doctor is an orthopedic surgeon, who still maintains his license to practice, but retired in 1992. That is when the Morins started spending significant amounts of time in their beloved cabin in the park. They had been coming here over the years while he worked, but only for two-week stretches.

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Since "the accident" (his reference to the fire), he's been "dreaming about this and that," he said. "Our whole life was tremendous. Then, it hit the fan (with the fire). C'est la vie."

Morin said they were lucky to have bought the cabin on two acres of land in the area many years ago, and at that time, the cabin was 40 years old. They have been coming here for 50 years.

"We've been crying a little bit," he said, but are glad that others are all right.

They received the bad news about the cabin's fate on Dec. 2.

"We were supposed to go there last summer like always," he said. "But my sweet wife had a bad back. She's 88."

Since she required surgery, last summer was the first time they didn't visit the cabin in many years.

"C'est la vie," Morin said. "You get depressed. You need WD-40 in your joints. You hurt here and there. Your friends die. What do you have left? We have five kids and they live elsewhere."

Even with an iPad, which his "sweet wife" has, you can't count on anything.

"That rascal doesn't work anymore, as of yesterday," he said.

The Morins had been trying to receive photos of the fire from their daughter in Denver. The iPad wasn't getting the photos. However, their daughter called and said her banker had sent some pictures.

"It was total (destruction)," Morin said, "awful. Everything's gone. The fireplace is there. Otherwise, the remains of a dish."

A whole wall of family photos was consumed by the fire -- including beloved memories of climbing Longs Peak with their kids.

Morin, an orthopedic surgeon was in the Navy in World War II and the Korean campaign.

"I'm bragging now," he said, about how he corresponded with the orthopedist for Britain's king and queen during the war, after his sweetheart suggested he write Sir Reginald Watson Jones, concerning amputations and rehab for injured soldiers. Morin figures that with his methods of rehab, he may have helped save the limbs of countless soldiers, when they were told amputation was necessary.

"We had a good life," he said.

How did the Morins wind up in RMNP and Estes Park? During the war years, Morin's brother, also serving his country, contracted tuberculosis and was sent to a hospital in Denver for treatment. Morin said that the illness was so bad, his brother was expected to die. As they flew over RMNP on the way to Denver, Morin said the country was "so beautiful. Louisiana is okay, but we have nothing to compare."

Later, talking with a friend, the friend told him that he had two loves -- his wife and a cabin in the Moraine Park area of RMNP. Three months later, that cabin was for sale. Morin sent the friend money for the cabin and bought it essentially sight unseen. The former cabin owner was also a doctor, who had developed osteoarthritis and couldn't enjoy the cabin any more. The deal was "tremendous, nifty," Morin said.

Morin himself was sidelined by osteoarthritis in 1992, when he retired as a surgeon because his fingers would not allow him to hold the surgical instruments. From then on, excepting last year, the Morins summered in RMNP and Estes Park.

They had settled in Louisiana because Morin is of French-Canadian descent, and speaks French more readily than he does English. Speaking French has come easily to him since he was a boy of about 5 or 6, and he went to Louisiana because many residents speak French there.

Do the Morins have plans to come back to Estes Park? Yes, definitely, very soon, he said. Three of their children live in Texas, one in Denver and another is an orthopedic surgeon in Virginia. After determining the kids' wishes, Morin said he hopes to have a place here for next summer, and possibly rebuild.

"We've made friends in Estes Park over the years," he said. "It's a wonderful little town, with wonderful people. I hope to have a good time there again next summer."

There's a French saying: "Let the good times roll." Perhaps the Morins will, again, experience that in Estes Park.